Head of Russian Skripal-linked GRU spy agency dies

The head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, General Igor Korobov, has died aged 63, Russia’s defence ministry says.
Gen Korobov, who took up the post in 2016, is said to have died after “a serious and long illness” on Wednesday.
The GRU was this year linked to a nerve agent attack in Britain on Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Gen Korobov is understood to have faced criticism by Russian officials over the failure of the operation.
The attack on Mr Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury on March 4 led to them requiring weeks of hospital treatment.
The poisoning is alleged to have been carried out by suspects Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga, both identified by British authorities as GRU operatives, and “almost certainly” approved by the Russian state.
The GRU, or Main Intelligence Directorate, is the intelligence arm of the Russian military, tasked with carrying out undercover international operations.
Gen Korobov was on the US sanctions list, among many other senior Russian officials accused of helping pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
Russia has two other main spy organisations: the Federal Security Service (FSB), mainly involved in internal security, and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), whose role is similar to that of Britain’s MI6. -BBC